Ideagen Radio

Food as Medicine: How Sarah Hoit is Transforming Brain Health


Listen Later

Send us a text

Sarah Hoit radiates urgency and hope as she shares her moonshot mission to transform brain health and longevity worldwide. After losing her grandmother and husband to 10-year battles with dementia, Hoit has funneled her personal grief into a global movement through Social Impact Partners, a nonprofit bringing together corporations, youth innovators, and policymakers to tackle what she calls "the largest global health crisis the world has ever known."

The conversation reveals how Hoit's diverse background—from launching AmeriCorps at the White House to founding tech companies—shaped her collaborative approach to solving complex problems. "One plus one is eleven if we try to do it together," she explains, emphasizing how breaking down silos accelerates progress. This philosophy drives the Brain Health Innovation Olympics, where students from 14 countries partner with global corporations to develop actionable solutions for neurodegenerative diseases and mental health challenges.

Most compelling is Hoit's focus on food as medicine. Through partnerships like one with Sodexo (reaching 100 million people daily across 40 countries), she's helping implement a groundbreaking neuroprotective diet developed with Harvard researchers. The revelation that 80% of health outcomes are determined by lifestyle choices—food, exercise, sleep, socialization—offers profound hope. "In families like mine with a familial trail of disease, to understand that literally from in utero through what we do every day completely impacts our outcome... we have far more control than not."

Hoit's work extends beyond nutrition into technology and policy. Her company Vitality IP has developed an AI "digital dietician" personalizing nutrition recommendations, while her advocacy work focuses on bipartisan support for food security and research funding. Whether you're concerned about your own brain health, caring for a loved one with dementia, or interested in joining a movement changing how we approach aging, Hoit's message is clear: through collaboration, innovation, and everyday choices, we have unprecedented power to protect our most vital organ—our brain.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Ideagen RadioBy Ideagen